Interview With Nik Andrews (ukhero)

[UKHero 0]

Hello Peeps

 

I have been asked by Dukesy to look after this section of your forum. So I thought I had better go first.

 

Hope you enjoy reading my thoughts please comment after reading.

 

Cheers

 

Nik

 

 

1. What is your DJU Forum Alias? UKHero

 

2. What is your Real Name, Age, Location & Marital Status? Nik Andrews 44 and Married to Helen.

 

3. What is the Name of your Disco? The Nik Andrews Video Roadshow. Old time I know but it has been with me since the 1980's

 

4. How long have you been a DJ? did my first gig in 81 just after leaving school

 

5. What inspired you to become a DJ? I used to go to disco's and it used to look then like the DJ was a star up on a stage, it looked fun and you got paid for it. I have always loved music and so the pay was a bonus.

 

6. Are you a Full/Part Time DJ? If part time what else do you do? Full time, although I do other things I am a trained cameraman I have an HGV 1 licence and work as a sound engineer for some bands.

 

7. What is your favourite type of function now? (eg: Wedding, 18th Birthday party, etc)? I do a lot of Weddings but my ultimate favourite gigs are for older people. I did a 50th Wedding Anniversary the other week, Month, Year (Depending how old this thread is lol) and it was fantastic got to play some real old stuff.

 

8. What’s the worst/most embarrassing thing you've done in front of an audience? Carry a speaker out of a venue that was on fire. This was many years ago but it did happen instant smoke machine I can laugh now but it could have been a big insurance claim. "DJ To hot for local club" might have been the headline.

 

9. If you could go back to the beginning of your DJ career is there anything that you'd do differently? (eg: The gear that you bought, the way you promoted/advertised yourself) Yes I would not tie myself to an agent for as many years as I did. Dont get me wrong Agents have a place in our industry and good ones provide a service but there are to many DJs being agents through the back door and not doing it all above board IMHO and just to make an extra few quid. It aint all about money or the sentiment of well its business. We provide a very special service to our clients, much more than the car mechanic or the plummer we come into peoples lives at very specific and important times. 18th 21st Wedding etc etc. Dont abuse this with a shoddy service please.

 

10. What do you feel you offer the public that convinces them to book you rather than "the next guy/girl"? This is a hard one to answer as I think other people might choose different reasons. I think i'm good at what I do, I try to be professional and treat people honestly. I offer a few other services in with the price quoted again I dont like the idea of charging a price then offering bolt on services you book the Nik Andrews Video Roadshow and thats what you get.

 

11. Have you ever bought something for your show that you wish you hadn't? and why? Loads and loads of stuff you should see my loft and garage. I am an impulse gadget buyer. Always have been and always will be. Hey the girls have their shoes and handbags I have my gadgets lol.

 

12. What's your next DJ purchase likely to be? A Mixer that is rack mountable.

 

13. If you could get someone to invent a new piece of disco equipment for your show, what would it be? Anti gravity board for carrying equipment in and out of gigs. Better still an inflatable disco that fits in a laptop case.

 

14. What was the worst equipment failure suffered during a gig? Speaker on fire see above. Dont think it gets much worse than that do you?

 

15. What do you think is the best thing about DJing? Seeing people have a good time wins hands down everytime for me.

 

16. What do you think is the worst thing about DJing? Drunken people with no manners and a bad attitude who see you as something they just stepped in.

 

17. What would make you stop DJing (if anything)? Deafness (im getting there, ask Helen) or no one booking me or death i guess.

 

18. How do you think DJing will change, in the next 5 years? I think we will be using the internet more and more it will become assesible everywhere so we will not cary our songs around with us but link into a server.

 

19. Most stupid thing anyone's ever said to you at a gig? "Got any good music". "Yeah but your 14 and never heard of garth brooks".

 

20. Best advice you were ever given by a fellow DJ? Look after your wires and they will look after you. I have cables that are over 15 years old and still work fine I coil them up after each gig and look after them and he was right they do look after me.

 

21. And worst advice you were ever given? Oh yeah "Im a DJ play some Motown they will all dance" I did they didnt and not sure he was.

 

22. How do you keep up to date with music? (eg Promo monthly CDs, Downloads, Purchase from retailer) the odd DL and the Now albums oh and some free stuff from my radio work.

 

23. Name 3 songs that 95% of the time will fill the dance floor for you! Valerie - Mark Ronson, In the mood for dancing - The Nolans and Love Really Hurts Without You - Billy Ocean.

 

24. One piece of advice you'd give to someone just starting out. Read listen learn. Read forums and anything you can about DJing. Listen to what people want from you. Learn from another DJ go and roadie with an experienced DJ but dont become a clone be yourself and adapt what you have learned to your style.

 

25. What medium format do you mainly use eg vinyl, CD, hard-drive? Laptop, but I also have CD HDC and even Mini Disc. I can also provide Vynal and Cassette if neederd lol.

 

26. Have you embraced/adapted any ideas that you've read about on DJU - if so what? Yes this site is one of the best on the net for good advice from some very experienced DJs but also some good advice from the new guys also. I have taken on board many thing said on this hallowed site from contracts to pricing to how I present myself and my disco.

 

27. What is your best gig ever and your worst? Cant think of one gig been around to long there have been many many good ones and I guess quite a few bad ones. I got head butted once buy a drunk at a gig and had to go to hospital for stitches so I guess thats a bad one lol.

 

28. Apart from 'Word of Mouth' what is your main (most successful) form of advertising your disco? My web site again I have read and learned about site promotion etc and have now got some good enquiries comming in from it.

 

29. Are you a member of a DJ Association / Union and how does being a member benefit you? Yes DJ@ and WDJA... DJ@ gives me ten million pound PLI and also keeps me informed of industry related matters. I love the ID photo card as this gives me an identity at venues and ups the professional apperance of my business. WDJA sadly has become a listing site which it was not intended to become. It has how ever provided some very good bookings for me although the hit rate is not as high as I had expected. This is a shame as I know that people have put a lot of effort into it and taken a lot of stick for their efforts.

 

30. Have you ever had someone try to claim off you? (eg: Public Liability Insurance or other such legal action) Nope thank goodness

 

31. How many gigs do you do a year, how many would you like to do? I would say 100+ a year but always up for a few more.

 

32. What is your average charge for a booking? Fridays around £180 local and Saturdays £250 local then it gets more expencive as you travel out from base and might need accomodation etc.

 

33. How many tracks do you have in your music collection? Thousands...

34. What is your favourite venue to perform in? Village Halls (the old style wooden ones) I love village halls and that kind of get together where the community spirit is still there.

 

35. What is your favourite music genre? Everything from Classical through Country Rock R&R Motown Punk right through to Dance and some chart.

 

36. Do you use a roadie? now I have had a back op yes as much as I can mostly the wife.

 

37. How long does it take you to rig your equipment and then pack it away? about 1.5 hours to rig and about 1 hour to de rig and be on the way home dependant on rig size and distance to stage etc.

 

38. How far do you travel from your base to perform as a DJ? UK wide and would do abroad for the right fee and gig.

 

39. What other services do you provide (if any) on top of being a DJ? Music video's and photography.

 

40. Add any additional comments which you would like to include here... I have been honest with my answers some you might agree with some you might not, we cant all be the same in our approach to the way we work. I have strong oppinions yes but like to think I listen to others views, then tell them their wrong lol. Sorry for any bad spelling & I hope you find my answers interesting and see you in the threads, all the best Nik Andrews (aka UKHero)

[Robster 0]

Nice interview , honest and interesting :Thumbup:

[digitaldistortion 0]

Nice one, Nik :thanks:

 

I hope this thread continues with some of the many 'newbies'. It was always good to read!

[supersound dj 0]

This is one of the many DJ's I would like to meet.Spoken to Nik on the phone,and what a gentleman and believe it or not he isa soft calm fella who liker th go round the reekin(might have spelt that wrong)

 

Great interview and v honnest answeres

 

Well done Nik

[Gary (GDK) 0]

nice to see your realistic prices to ;)

i go out for 160 on a friday and hold my hand to it!

Have to agree on the floorfiller to, valarie, even though i dont lke it.

and speaker fire! ouch!

[Dukesy 0]

Cheers Nik. :thumbsup:

 

Really interesting and I look forward to reading more newbie interviews and re-interviews too!

[soundwaves 0]

Great read , enjoyed muchly .

[gadget 0]

Excellent interview with yourself! Wonder how on earth the speaker caught fire!

[DJTREV 0]

We provide a very special service to our clients, much more than the car mechanic or the plummer we come into peoples lives at very specific and important times. 18th 21st Wedding etc etc. Dont abuse this with a shoddy service please

 

 

Interesting interview Nik.

 

That is the only passage that I would question.I would never dis the service provided by any individual.I would give the same and expect the same service regardless of what the profession was.In fact as a completely non grease ball I would think a good mechanic is worth his wieght in gold to someone like me.

 

[Norfolk DJ 0]

23. Name 3 songs that 95% of the time will fill the dance floor for you! Valerie - Mark Ronson, In the mood for dancing - The Nolans and Love Really Hurts Without You - Billy Ocean.

 

Yep 3 good tunes.

 

Good interview Nik!

[Kingy 0]

Nice one Nik.

 

How on earth did the speaker actch fire and what sort was it? LOL

[UKHero 0]

Interesting interview Nik.

 

That is the only passage that I would question.I would never dis the service provided by any individual.I would give the same and expect the same service regardless of what the profession was.In fact as a completely non grease ball I would think a good mechanic is worth his wieght in gold to someone like me.

 

But Trev how many times have you been married or how many times have you been 21 or 18?

 

Now how many times have you used a garage? If not completly satisfied you go to another garage next time but can you go to another DJ the next time your 21?

 

Nik

 

Nice one Nik.

 

How on earth did the speaker actch fire and what sort was it? LOL

 

Not sure to be honnest it was back in the 80's I had some very cheap nasty speakers on top of some ok ones. The cheap ones were made of what I can only call compressed cardboard with lots of white woollike material in them. I just noticed loads of smoke pouring out of it the speaker it was linked from was fine. I un-pluged it and ran for the exit. I looked through a little bass port in it and saw some flames. I used the clubs extinguisher on it lol.

 

A funny story now but when you think of what could have happened could have been very very bad. Maybe a leson learned for new DJs on here.

 

Nik

[DJTREV 0]

But Trev how many times have you been married or how many times have you been 21 or 18?

 

Now how many times have you used a garage? If not completly satisfied you go to another garage next time but can you go to another DJ the next time your 21?

 

Nik

 

First question-twice

If it was my 18th I wouldnt go to the same DJ when I was 21.On my 40th I would probably try another DJ for that as well.

Does that answer your question.

 

[UKHero 0]

First question-twice

If it was my 18th I wouldnt go to the same DJ when I was 21.On my 40th I would probably try another DJ for that as well.

Does that answer your question.

 

No not really if the guy who did your 18th was fantastic why would you not use him for your 21st? :shrug:

 

thats like saying if a plumber comes and fixes your taps in the kitchen you would not use him for your bathroom even though he did a great job.

 

Sorry my friend I can not see what your trying to say.

 

Infact I have had a couple just this week book me because I did their engagement and had such a good time. If they followed your way of thinking they might have gone some where else, and while they might have had an even better time with some one else they might have also had a bad time. As I say I dont see your point, if the service is good and your happy surely you go back. Else from a business POV whats the point in offering great customer service? You have the first gig after all, I ask for payment in advance so why put any effort into it if every one will go else where next time?

 

Is it just me can any one else see what Trev is trying to say? Maybe im missing the point.....

Nik

Edited March 20, 2009 by UKHero

[Kingy 0]

 

If it was my 18th I wouldnt go to the same DJ when I was 21.On my 40th I would probably try another DJ for that as well.

 

 

But why if the original DJ performed well??